CHARLES PLUMMER PRELIMINARY HEARING

By DIONNE PEEPLES-SALAH; Times Leader Staff Writer

WILKES-BARRE -- As Anthony Dawkins lay in a hospital emergency room with a
bullet lodged in his neck, he told police that Charles Plummer was the person
who shot him Labor Day weekend, city Detectove Robert Mitchell testified at
Plummer's preliminary hearing Tuesday.
After hearing that and other testimony, District Justice Michael Collins
ruled there was enough evidence to warrant sending the case to Luzerne County
Court. Before the hearing, Plummer, of Wilkes-Barre, requested a postponement,
saying he wanted to find a new lawyer because his attorney, Michael Kostelaba,
was "acting as an adversary and not an advocate."
Plummer, 46, said Kostelaba discussed his case with the district attorney,
would not interview people he requested or subpoena police dispatch tapes as
Plummer requested. Kostelaba, who called no defense witnesses Tuesday, offered
to withdraw from the case. Collins said no.
Police arrested Plummer when Dawkins, 30, also of Wilkes-Barre, died from
the neck wound six days after the shooting, said Montour County coroner Scott
Lynn. Dawkins died in Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he had been
transferred from a local hospital.
Plummer was charged with criminal homicide, reckless endangerment and
aggravated assault. Before Dawkins died, police never interviewed Plummer in
connection with the shooting, Mitchell said.
A name was not enough, Mitchell said. "We wanted more information from
Dawkins," he said. They obtained more complete and corroborated information
after Dawkins' death, Mitchell said.
Based on initial interviews, police issued a press release saying Dawkins
was the victim of a random drive-by shooting. But witnesses testified Tuesday
that the two men knew each other and Plummer approached Dawkins as he stood in
front of a Hill Street home and shot him, police said.
Eyewitness Ellery Wade, 38, testified that he did not immediately tell
police who shot Dawkins because "Anthony said, `Don't say anything because
I'll take care of Plummer myself.' " But Dawkins told police and the pastor of
Mount Zion Baptist Church, which he attended.
Wade said he and Dawkins were sitting on a porch on Hill Street when
Plummer called Dawkins from the porch and shot him. "He (Plummer) threw a
cigarette in Anthony's chest and said some obscenities and shot Anthony," Wade
said.
William Whitt, who drove Dawkins to the hospital, said he was also sitting
on the porch when Dawkins was shot. "Anthony yelled, `You better have my
money,' " Whitt said. Eventually, "Plummer got out of the car and I heard a
shot and saw the flame (from the gun)," Whitt said.
Another person testifying was Doreese Wade, the mother of Dawkins' child.
She said she went to a local bar searching for the person who shot Dawkins.
Plummer approached her there and said his only intention was to scare
Dawkins -- not shoot him, she said.
Plummer is being held in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility without
bail.